Fort Lauderdale puts lid on new pain management clinics until February

August 18, 2010|By Scott Wyman, Sun Sentinel

No new pain management clinics can open in Fort Lauderdale at least until Feb. 25.

City commissioners extended the moratorium Tuesday night on new clinics as part of the fight against the explosion in the abuse of prescription drugs in South Florida. The city imposed a ban on new clinics in February, but it was set to expire in October and officials wanted more time to gear up to enforce a new law that the Legislature passed.

Pain clinics and physicians willing to dispense excessive amounts of prescription drugs have been blamed for supplying addicts and fueling a narcotics trade that spreads pills throughout the Southeast. A damning report issued by a grand jury last year found that the number of pain clinics in Broward grew from four to 115 in just two years.

According to the Sheriff's Office, more than 1 million tablets of oxycodone, one of the most powerful and dangerous painkillers on the market, are prescribed every month in Broward. Also, the agency has found that 38 of the 50 doctors who most prescribe oxycodone in the United States are located in Broward.

The new state legislation providing stricter regulation of pain clinics goes into effect Oct. 1. It would expand enforcement power of the Department of Health, allowing them to review clinic records and dictate who can run clinics. Also, the law requires a physical exam of a patient the same day the drugs prescribed and limits the amount of the drugs dispensed to a 72-hour supply.

In the past five months, the city Police Department has seized more than 175,000 pills during inspections at four clinics. Two closed their doors, and a third changed its focus.

Since the city imposed its moratorium, it has denied five business applications for pain clinics.